The Auditions: Now It's Real!
This week it all starts to finally happen as we have reached the audition stage. Obviously Damon, the director, has been working very hard for many months just sorting out the logistics of the task ahead, working out the numbers and just how we are going to achieve what we need to, but this has been largely a solo task up until this point.
Now, though, everyone in the company has the chance to get involved with the arrival of the auditions which take place this Monday and Thursday evening.
Even now, I can get a sense of just how different this production is going to be. There are, according to Damon's maths, 118 named roles to cast, and we are looking for a cast of at least 31 individuals, with all but two of those performers taking on several roles.
We're anticipating a great deal of interest at the audietions, and to accommodate this we have booked out the entire building at Bedhampton Arts Centre, so that we can use all three rooms.
But perhaps the most nerve-racking thing at the moment is the nagging possibility that we won't get enough people at the auditions.
As we're performing this so close to Christmas (last performance being December 23rd), there are likely to be a number of people unwilling to give up their festive break for what is going to be lots of hard work. We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we are asking people to be involved. This can lead to people who are not totally committed to the project getting involved out of a sense of duty, rather than willingness, when really we need people who are 100% enthusiastic and excited by being involved.
The auditions themselves are going to be complex. Rather than straighforward reading of particular scenes, Damon wants to see how well people can act, operate puppets and move convincingly, so the auditions are being divided into three half-hour sections.
Acting Jacquie Penrose is going to be leading a group audition on characterisation, keeping in mind that most people will be called upon to play multiple roles. Actors need to be able to show that they can create very distinct characters so that audiences are confused by seeing the same actor in various different scenes.
Puppetry Every human character in His Dark Materials possesses a Daemon, an animal representation of the character's soul. These Daemons are characters in themselves, and are going to be portrayed through puppetry. Paul and Gerry from Scat Theatre do a great deal of work with puppets and they will be working with people to see who is most adept at breathing life into an inanimate object.
Movement Two very distinct and important character groups in His Dark Materials are the witches and the polar bears. The polar bears have to fight, and the witches have to fly! I will be leading a movement audition where I can work with groups of performers on the differing physical dynamics of these two groups of characters. Although not everyone will end up playing a bear or a witch, seeing performers attempt these two starkly contrasting types of physicality will enable us to see, more generally, which performers are more confident physically, which can absorb choreography quickly, and therefore which performers would be better suited to more physically demanding roles or fight scenes.
Damon will be flitting between each group to get a flavour of how things are working, but it is certain he will be relying very much on the views of Jacquie, Paul, Gerry and myself. We will each give our feedback to Damon and he will be faced with the task of fitting actors to parts.
It is likely that the casting process itself will take a couple of weeks at least.
Once the auditions are over and done with, I'll post my thoughts on how it all went on this blog.
Wish us luck...
Now, though, everyone in the company has the chance to get involved with the arrival of the auditions which take place this Monday and Thursday evening.
Even now, I can get a sense of just how different this production is going to be. There are, according to Damon's maths, 118 named roles to cast, and we are looking for a cast of at least 31 individuals, with all but two of those performers taking on several roles.
We're anticipating a great deal of interest at the audietions, and to accommodate this we have booked out the entire building at Bedhampton Arts Centre, so that we can use all three rooms.
But perhaps the most nerve-racking thing at the moment is the nagging possibility that we won't get enough people at the auditions.
As we're performing this so close to Christmas (last performance being December 23rd), there are likely to be a number of people unwilling to give up their festive break for what is going to be lots of hard work. We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we are asking people to be involved. This can lead to people who are not totally committed to the project getting involved out of a sense of duty, rather than willingness, when really we need people who are 100% enthusiastic and excited by being involved.
The auditions themselves are going to be complex. Rather than straighforward reading of particular scenes, Damon wants to see how well people can act, operate puppets and move convincingly, so the auditions are being divided into three half-hour sections.
Acting Jacquie Penrose is going to be leading a group audition on characterisation, keeping in mind that most people will be called upon to play multiple roles. Actors need to be able to show that they can create very distinct characters so that audiences are confused by seeing the same actor in various different scenes.
Puppetry Every human character in His Dark Materials possesses a Daemon, an animal representation of the character's soul. These Daemons are characters in themselves, and are going to be portrayed through puppetry. Paul and Gerry from Scat Theatre do a great deal of work with puppets and they will be working with people to see who is most adept at breathing life into an inanimate object.
Movement Two very distinct and important character groups in His Dark Materials are the witches and the polar bears. The polar bears have to fight, and the witches have to fly! I will be leading a movement audition where I can work with groups of performers on the differing physical dynamics of these two groups of characters. Although not everyone will end up playing a bear or a witch, seeing performers attempt these two starkly contrasting types of physicality will enable us to see, more generally, which performers are more confident physically, which can absorb choreography quickly, and therefore which performers would be better suited to more physically demanding roles or fight scenes.
Damon will be flitting between each group to get a flavour of how things are working, but it is certain he will be relying very much on the views of Jacquie, Paul, Gerry and myself. We will each give our feedback to Damon and he will be faced with the task of fitting actors to parts.
It is likely that the casting process itself will take a couple of weeks at least.
Once the auditions are over and done with, I'll post my thoughts on how it all went on this blog.
Wish us luck...
posted by Cracked Actor at Sunday, January 08, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home